Day 9: Beijing

Rachel Maloney, Louisville, KY

August 12, 2008

Today we started out with a lecture on Beijing olympics and its influences. I learned that China is trying to take steps to clean up the air pollution. Professor Hu Bo siad it keeps getting worse. But since the olympics is in Beijing they will start to change things.

We ate lunch at the hotel. I am starting to get sick of eating Chinese food. All the food I have had is very good but I have never been so excited to eat McDonald's in my life. I have definitely been open to try new foods like duck, fried corn, and various unknown foods.

After lunch I headed to the canoe/kayak event. It never fails that I would pick the event outside as it rained. But the rain didnt last long. I sat down in the stadium and kept my eyes on the various people around me and athletes walking around the stadium. I got to talking to this gentleman and his sons from Napa Valley, California and they were telling me of their experiences so far. A lot of their experiences were the same reaction I had. I enjoyed the olympic event today because I am a former rower and I knew what the judges were talking about. When the event was over we headed to find something to eat (Hooters) and then back to the hotel.

Brian Soverns, Clarkson, KY

After waking to the sounds of that all too familiar sound of the alarm yet again this morning, I checked the days’ itinerary and saw we started out with a lecture over the influence of the Olympics on the city of Beijing and the country of China. We went to the familiar meeting room and were greeted by Professor Hu Bo, a brilliant man who had already been a translator for us, would be speaking to us today. He spoke to us about the preparations that China had to make for the Olympics and how it was a process that took China over 15 years. China originally put in a bid for the 2000 games and lost by only a few votes and due to a rule you can only bid for every other Olympic Games so they regrouped and eventually won the right to host the 2008 games. He explained that the games would not only help China for three weeks but that they may be a turning point for Chinese culture as we know it. He explained about air pollution, new venues, and the other things that are obvious to the average fan, but he also gave us a unique and in-depth opinion on the Olympics. After our lecture we finally got to see our first Olympic event. Handball was the game of choice for me and it lived up to its billing. It was fast paced and action packed from beginning to end. In the first game Norway defeated Angola handily in front of a large crowd sporting the blue and red of Norway. In the second game the rowdy crowd of Korea willed their heavily underdog team to victory of Germany. Getting to experience another country at a sporting event was a unique experience. I enjoyed following along with the Koreans while watching their very scrappy team gain a qualifying round victory in the sport of handball. After a walk around the Olympic Green and many pictures of my favorite structure, National Stadium or “The Bird’s Nest” as it was dubbed, a very eventful day concluded.